EA Sports College Football 26 will be released in just under two weeks, and fans are gearing up to play the latest edition of one of the most beloved gaming franchises.
EA just released the trailer and deep dive for Road to Glory, in which they reintroduced high school gameplay. Still, some creators are raising serious concerns about the developers’ approach to creating the high school experience.
High School Gameplay Returns in Road to Glory, But A Key Change Has Fans Split
Fans were disappointed upon the release of College Football 25 that the Road to Glory game mode would not include a high school story arc, as in the college football games of a decade ago.
However, EA has officially brought it back, explaining how users will get to use their player in high school in their deep dive about the game mode.
“Over the course of your high school schedule, you’ll play five games, each made up of four key moments designed to showcase your skill set,” EA said. “These moments drop you into a wide variety of football scenarios and challenge you with specific drive goals like leading a go-ahead scoring drive or flipping field position after being pinned deep.”
While it’s great to have high school back in Road To Glory, it’s disappointing that users don’t get to play an entire season like they were able to in games in EA’s NCAA franchise.
This decision to include only scenarios has been controversial, including from YouTuber James Bordeuax, one of College Football 25’s biggest content creators.
Bordeaux was given early access to the game and talked to EA developers about why they switched from a whole season to a scenario-based gameplay for high school in Road to Glory.
“From talking to some of the devs behind this, the idea behind playing scenarios instead of your full high school games was making Road to Glory in high school a little bit of a different experience,” Bordeaux said.
While it’s understandable that the developers wanted to limit users’ time in high school and focus more on the college career aspect of the game, Bordeaux explained that they ruined the immersion of the high school gameplay in the process.
“That’s one of my biggest issues with the scenario gameplay,” Bordeaux said. “You don’t really feel immersed in that high school experience.”
It’s not ideal to only be able to play scenarios during high school gameplay in College Football 26. Still, fans must remember that after a decade hiatus, it’s just nice to have the game back overall, and the developers took the right step in bringing back high school in the first place.
College Football 26 will be released worldwide on July 10, 2025, with early access available on July 7, 2025, for those who purchase the Deluxe Edition or the MVP Bundle.
